[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 63 (Thursday, April 1, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17131-17132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-7388]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[C-428-817]


Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products and Cut-
to-Length Carbon Steel Plate Products from Germany: Final Results of 
Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews and Revocation of the 
Orders, in Whole

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of final results of countervailing duty changed 
circumstances reviews and revocation of the orders, in whole.

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SUMMARY: On January 28, 2004, the Department of Commerce (the 
Department) published a notice of preliminary results of changed 
circumstances reviews of the countervailing duty orders on certain 
corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products and cut-to-length carbon 
steel plate products from Germany. See Certain Corrosion-Resistant 
Carbon Steel Flat Products and Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate 
Products from Germany: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty 
Changed Circumstances Reviews, 69 FR 4114 (January 28, 2004) 
(Preliminary Results). In the Preliminary Results, we invited 
interested parties to comment on the Department's preliminary intent to 
revoke in whole the countervailing duty orders. We did not receive any 
comments. As a result, we conclude that producers accounting for 
substantially all of the production of the domestic like products to 
which these orders pertain lack interest in the relief provided by the 
orders. Therefore, we revoke these orders, in whole, with respect to 
products entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or 
after April 1, 2004.

EFFECTIVE DATE: (April 1, 2004.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Copyak, Office of AD/CVD 
Enforcement VI, Group II, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-
2209.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 17, 1993, the Department published countervailing duty 
orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products and 
cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from Germany. See 
Countervailing Duty Orders and Amendment to Final Affirmative 
Countervailing Duty Determinations: Certain Steel Products From 
Germany, 58 FR 43756 (August 17, 1993). On October 22, 2003, 
International Steel Group, Inc. (purchaser of Bethlehem Steel 
Corporation) and United States Steel Corporation, requested that the 
Department revoke the countervailing duty orders, effective April 1, 
2004, based on their lack of further interest in these proceedings. In 
response to this request, on December 3, 2003, the Department published 
a notice of initiation of changed circumstances reviews of the 
countervailing duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel 
flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from 
Germany. See Certain Corrosion-Resistant Carbon Steel Flat Products and 
Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate Products from Germany: Initiation of 
Countervailing Duty Changed Circumstances Reviews, 68 FR 67657 
(December 3, 2003) (Initiation Notice)
    On January 28, 2004, the Department published a notice of 
preliminary results of changed circumstances reviews of the 
countervailing duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel 
flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from 
Germany. See Preliminary Results. We did not receive any comments on 
our preliminary results.

Scope of the Orders

    The products covered by these reviews are certain corrosion-
resistant carbon steel flat products and cut-to-length steel plate 
products from Germany.
    (1) Certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products: The 
scope of countervailing duty order on certain corrosion-resistant 
carbon steel flat products (corrosion-resistant) includes flat-rolled 
carbon steel products, of rectangular shape, either clad, plated, or 
coated with corrosion-resistant metals such as zinc, aluminum, or zinc-
, aluminum-, nickel- or iron-based alloys, whether or not corrugated or 
painted, varnished or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic 
substances in addition to the metallic coating, in coils (whether or 
not in successively superimposed layers) and of a width of 0.5 inch or 
greater, or in straight lengths which, if of a thickness less than 4.75 
millimeters, are of a width of 0.5 inch or greater and which measures 
at least 10 times the thickness or if of a thickness of 4.75 
millimeters or more are of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and 
measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) under item numbers 7210.31.0000, 
7210.39.0000, 7210.41.0000, 7210.49.0030, 7210.49.0090, 7210.60.0000, 
7210.70.6030, 7210.70.6060, 7210.70.6090, 7210.90.1000, 7210.90.6000, 
7210.90.9000, 7212.21.0000, 7212.29.0000, 7212.30.1030, 7212.30.1090, 
7212.30.3000, 7212.30.5000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 
7212.60.0000, 7215.90.1000, 7215.90.5000, 7217.12.1000, 7217.13.1000, 
7217.19.1000, 7217.19.5000, 7217.22.5000, 7217.23.5000, 7217.29.1000, 
7217.29.5000, 7217.32.5000, 7217.33.5000, 7217.39.1000, and 
7217.39.5000. Included in this scope are flat-rolled products of non-
rectangular cross-section where such cross-section is achieved 
subsequent to the rolling process (i.e., products which have been 
worked after rolling)--for example, products which have been beveled or 
rounded at the edges. Excluded from this scope are flat-rolled steel 
products either plated or coated with tin, lead, chromium, chromium 
oxides, both tin and lead (terne plate), or both chromium and chromium 
oxides (tin-free steel), whether or not painted, varnished or coated 
with plastics or other nonmetallic substances in addition to the 
metallic coating. Also excluded from this scope are clad products in 
straight lengths of 0.1875 inch or more in composite thickness and of a 
width which exceeds 150 millimeters and measures at least twice the 
thickness. Also excluded from this scope are certain clad stainless 
flat-rolled products, which are three-layered corrosion-resistant 
carbon steel flat-rolled products less than 4.75 millimeters in 
composite thickness that consist of a carbon steel flat-rolled product 
clad on both sides with stainless steel in a ``20 percent--60 percent--
20 percent'' ratio. On September 22, 1999, the Department issued the 
final results of a changed circumstances review and revoked the order 
with respect to certain corrosion-resistant steel. See Notice of Final 
Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing 
Duty Reviews and Revocation of Orders in Part: Certain Corrosion-
Resistant

[[Page 17132]]

Carbon Steel Flat Products From Germany, 64 FR 51292 (September 22, 
1999). The Department noted that the affirmative statement of no 
interest by petitioners, combined with the lack of comments from 
interested parties, is sufficient to warrant partial revocation. This 
partial revocation applies to certain corrosion-resistant deep-drawing 
carbon steel strip, roll-clad on both sides with aluminum (AlSi) foils 
in accordance with St3 LG as to EN 10139/10140. The merchandise's 
chemical composition encompasses a core material of U St 23 (continuous 
casting) in which carbon is less than 0.08 percent; manganese is less 
than 0.30 percent; phosphorous is less than 0.20 percent; sulfur is 
less than 0.015 percent; aluminum is less than 0.01 percent; and the 
cladding material is a minimum of 99 percent aluminum with silicon/
copper/iron of less than 1 percent. The products are in strips with 
thicknesses of 0.07mm to 4.0mm (inclusive) and widths of 5mm to 800mm 
(inclusive). The thickness ratio of aluminum on either side of steel 
may range from 3 percent/94 percent/3 percent to 10 percent/80 percent/
10 percent.
    (2) Certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate products: The scope of 
countervailing duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate 
products (cut-to-length steel) includes hot-rolled carbon steel 
universal mill plates (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces 
or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 millimeters but not 
exceeding 1,250 millimeters and of a thickness of not less than 4 
millimeters, not in coils and without patterns in relief), of 
rectangular shape, neither clad, plated nor coated with metal, whether 
or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other nonmetallic 
substances; and certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat-rolled products in 
straight lengths, of rectangular shape, hot rolled, neither clad, 
plated, nor coated with metal, whether or not painted, varnished, or 
coated with plastics or other nonmetallic substances, 4.75 millimeters 
or more in thickness and of a width which exceeds 150 millimeters and 
measures at least twice the thickness, as currently classifiable in the 
Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) under item numbers 7208.40.3030, 
7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030, 7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 
7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.13.0000, 
7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 
and 7212.50.0000. Included are flat-rolled products of non-rectangular 
cross-section where such cross-section is achieved subsequent to the 
rolling process (i.e., products which have been worked after rolling) 
for example, products which have been beveled or rounded at the edges. 
Excluded is grade X-70 plate. On August 25, 1999, the Department issued 
the final results of a changed-circumstances review revoking the order 
in part, with respect to certain carbon cut-to-length steel plate with 
a maximum thickness of 80 mm in steel grades BS 7191, 355 EM and 355 
EMZ, as amended by Sable Offshore Energy Project Specification XB MOO Y 
15 0001, types 1 and 2. See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate 
from Finland, Germany, and United Kingdom: Final Results of Changed 
Circumstances Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Reviews, and 
Revocation of Orders in Part, 64 FR 46343 (August 25, 1999).
    The HTS item numbers are provided for convenience and customs 
purposes. The written description remains dispositive.

Final Results of Reviews and Revocation of the Countervailing Duty 
Orders, in Whole

    Pursuant to section 751(d)(1) of the 1930 Tariff Act, as amended 
(the Act), and Sec.  351.222(g) of the regulations, the Department may 
revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, in whole or in 
part, based on a review conducted under section 751(b) of the Act 
(i.e., a changed circumstances review). Section 751(b)(1) of the Act 
requires a changed circumstances review to be conducted upon receipt of 
a request which shows changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a 
review. Section 782(h)(2) of the Act gives the Department the authority 
to revoke an order if producers accounting for substantially all of the 
production of the domestic like product have expressed a lack of 
interest in the continuation of the order. Section 351.222(g) of the 
Department's regulations provides that the Department will conduct a 
changed circumstances review under Sec.  351.216 of the Department's 
regulations, and may revoke an order (in whole or in part), if it 
concludes that (i) producers accounting for substantially all of the 
production of the domestic like product to which the order pertains 
have expressed a lack of interest in the relief provided by the order, 
in whole or in part, or (ii) if other changed circumstances sufficient 
to warrant revocation exist. The Department has interpreted 
``substantially all'' production normally to mean at least 85 percent 
of the domestic production of the like product. See Certain Tin Mill 
Products From Japan: Final Results of Changed Circumstances Review, 66 
FR 52109 (October 12, 2001); see also, 19 CFR 351.208(c).
    As noted above, in the Initiation Notice and in the Preliminary 
Results, the petitioners requested the revocation of these orders 
because they are no longer interested in maintaining the orders or in 
the imposition of duties on the subject merchandise as of April 1, 
2004. Because the Department did not receive objections to the request 
for revocation of these orders from domestic producers accounting for 
more than 15 percent of production of the domestic like product and did 
not receive any comments on our Preliminary Results, we conclude that 
producers accounting for substantially all of the production of the 
domestic like products to which these orders pertain lack interest in 
the relief provided by the orders.
    In accordance with 19 CFR 351.222(g), the Department determines 
that there is a reasonable basis to believe that changed circumstances 
exist sufficient to warrant revocation of the orders. Therefore, the 
Department is revoking the orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon 
steel flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from 
Germany, in whole.
    As a result of these reviews, we will instruct the U.S. Customs and 
Border Protection to terminate suspension of liquidation effective 
April 1, 2004.
    This notice is published in accordance with section 751(b)(1) of 
the Act and Sec. Sec.  351.216 and 351.222 of the Department's 
regulations.

    Dated: March 26, 2004.
Joseph A. Spetrini,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-7388 Filed 3-31-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P